Nero


 * "From that day forth... my arm changed... and a voice echoed, "Power. Give me more power!" And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile. Anything to protect her". — Nero after his Devil Trigger activates for the first time.

Nero is one of the main protagonists of Devil May Cry series. He first appears as a playable character in Devil May Cry 4, and later in Devil May Cry 5. Nero serves as a Holy Knight in the Order of the Sword, a religious group that worships Sparda and fights to protect the world from demons. Kyrie is the childhood friend of Nero, who he shares a strong romantic bond with; this romance plays a major part in driving Nero throughout the events of Devil May Cry 4.

Development
The Devil May Cry 4 Material Collection Artbook shows a myriad of sketches and changes over Nero's design. Several concepts of him include Nero in white clothes similar to those worn by the rest of the Order, some which are very aristocratic in appearance, and some that are similar to Vergil, decked in blue. In most of them, Nero has a much slimmer build, and his eyes are a different color, where they are predominantly yellow, in contrast to the color seen in the final version of the game. The artbook also has several images depicting Nero with a full Devil Trigger that has wings, but this design was scrapped in exchanged for the spectre-like form seen in the final game.

According to Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune novel, Nero was originally named after a sculptor called Rodan, who created Gates of Hell, a monumental sculptural group depicting scenes from Dante Alighieri's Inferno in high relief. However, because the crew preferred a two-syllable name, and because they were afraid "Rodan" might give too much of an "intellectual" impression, they decided to go for a different name. As stated in the novel, Morihashi Bingo accidentally came up with the name Nero, and it has nothing to do with Nelo Angelo.

In early publicity art, screenshots, and trailers for Devil May Cry 4, Nero's Devil Bringer originally had a golden glow before it was changed to blue; the reason for this change is unknown, however it is speculated that it was changed to hint and represent that Nero was the son of Vergil by sharing the blue colour.

Nero has some sort of relation to Sparda, due to the connection he has with the Yamato, and his alleged place in the Sparda bloodline. While in the past the exact details of this have yet to be established by Capcom in game, the Devil May Cry 4 novel contains hints that Nero is Vergil's son, and this claim has allegedly been confirmed at "Captivate 2009" by one of the Capcom employees who worked on the game's localization. However, it was later confirmed and plainly stated that "Nero is in fact Vergil's son" by the Graphic Arts 3142 art book. .

Appearance
Back in his initial appearance, Nero wears a long navy blue and red coat with The Order of the Sword's insignia sewn into both shoulders. He also wears a red zip-up hoodie/vest underneath this coat, a navy muscle-shirt beneath that, and a pair of dark blue pants.

In addition, he wears two rings on his left hand: one on his index finger that has the emblem of The Order of the Sword on its face, and another on his ring finger which bears a rose design, identical to the designs on his belt buckle, coat clasp, and coat buttons. He has white hair brushed down and blue eyes, similar to Dante and Vergil.

Many years later, Nero sports a much shorter hair similar to the alternate universe Dante. He would soon lose his Devil Bringer, and replaced it with a cybernetic arm.

Personality
In contrast with Dante's laid-back and occasionally flirtatious, cool and stylish attitude, Nero is a more serious, cynical, distant, sardonic and somewhat antisocial person. He is a choleric character, is prone to mood swings, and has been seen to both cry and become very angry multiple times during the events of Devil May Cry 4.

He is also very rebellious, much like or maybe more than Dante and Sparda before him: he wields a gun, despite the Order's general prohibition against them; he doesn't really believe in the Order's religion; and cares little for the legend of Sparda. Despite this, he is also very loyal to his friends, especially to Kyrie and Credo. Even though he doesn't care for the Order of the Sword's religion, Nero still participates in some of their activities out of respect for Credo and Kyrie. However, his rebellious nature leads to the Order having him work alone on "special jobs." In fact, Nero actually prefers to act as a lone wolf.

Like Dante, Nero is a somewhat arrogant and cocky person. He shares Dante's habit of casually mouthing off to even the most powerful of his enemies, making taunts and sarcastic jokes on the battlefield. Nero also taunts in a similar, sarcastic fashion to Dante: One taunt involves him bowing mockingly and asking, "Shall we dance?"; another has him aiming the Blue Rose at his enemies and saying "Bang!" instead of shooting; and another has him applaud his enemies.

When he first received the Devil Bringer, he considered it a curse, and covered it with a medical sling to hide it out of shame. However, over time he began to train with the Devil Bringer but doesn't fully accept its existence until the end of Devil May Cry 4.

Nero is one of the few characters in the Devil May Cry series to actually swear and showcased offensive and crude behavior to others. Such instances includes: He calls Agnus a "jackass" and his laboratory a "hellhole". He also almost calls Agnus a "son of bitch" later, but is cut short. Before fighting Dante, he tells him "Kid? Well, if that's how you see me, I think you'll blush a pretty pink when I kick your ass." Later on, he tells Sanctus "Go blow yourself" and could say "I'm not interested in your bullshit!" when using a Buster in the first battle with the vicar. Lastly, he gives Dante the middle finger (pretty rude huh?) before being absorbed by The Savior.

Before Devil May Cry 4
Mentioned in an incident report, a number of demons appeared suddenly from the Mitis Forest and attacked Fortuna. Nero was present at the scene and exterminated all of the demons, but he couldn't prevent demons from injuring Kyrie and his own shoulder. Nero's sword, the Red Queen, was also damaged and sent for repair. Kyrie recovered completely, but Nero's shoulder never healed properly, and was transformed into something else. Initially he believed it to be an infection but, upon realizing it was demonic power, he began training with it in secret.

Devil May Cry 4
On the day of the Festival of the Blade, Nero barely manages to make it to Kyrie's performance in time after dealing with a group of demons, with a man in red secretly watching him from the rooftops. He leaves her a gift and then prepares to leave, having grown tired of Sanctus's preaching. Just before he can, though, the mysterious man in red bursts in through the glass ceiling during a prayer and slays Sanctus, the leader of the Order.

Before the assassin (who is later revealed to be Dante) can confirm the kill, Credo, along with a battalion of knights confront him, but are completely outmatched. Kyrie, seeing that Dante is going to kill her brother, finally escapes Nero's hold on her and runs to them, but is knocked down in the process. When Nero sees the man in red looming over Kyrie, he kicks him in the face and orders Credo and Kyrie to go get help while he stalls Dante.

The two fight, and Nero is forced to reveal his Devil Bringer. With it, he was able to knock Dante back and impale him with his own sword on Sparda's statue. But Dante, who isn't just a mere mortal, frees himself and jumps down. Nero states that Dante isn't human, to which Dante then pulls Rebellion out and comments that they're the same, and points out the knights he had slain, who turned out to be demons. Confused, Nero watches as Dante flees the scene.

Shortly after, Kyrie returns Nero's sword, Red Queen, at Credo's request. Credo gives an order to Nero - to pursue the man in red, with witnesses seeing him heading to Fortuna Castle. Suddenly, all three feel the building shudder, and leave to discover the city's citizens being attacked by demons. While Kyrie and Credo lead the survivors back to headquarters, Nero fights off the remaining demons.

In order to pursue Dante, Nero go through Fortuna, which has been totally overrun with demons. His pursuit of Dante leads him to discover the source of these demons: In a small village at the base of Lamina Peak, just outside the city, Nero finds the first Hell Gate and fights its guardian, Berial the Conqueror of the Fire Hell.

After defeating Berial, Nero makes his way through a supernatural blizzard to Fortuna Castle, where he meets Gloria, a new member of the Order whom he's never seen before. After some exposition, Nero and Gloria go their separate ways. When Nero enters Fortuna Castle, he finds it infested with demons and starts to investigate. He finds the second Hell Gate and fights Bael, a large toad-like demon whose specialty is ice.

While exploring the castle, Nero stumbles upon a secret underground laboratory of the Order, where he meets Agnus, the Order's Chief Alchemist. Agnus reveals that he created the Hell Gates and uses them to summon demons, which he needs for his experiments. Agnus also reveals that by using this power, Sanctus hopes to rule the world by using the Savior, the god-like being the Order constructed.

Agnus has Nero nearly killed by his Angelos, but Nero dramatically unleashes his Devil Trigger with the help of devil bringer gaining a phantom-like appearance. In this form, Nero manages to repair Yamato, the broken sword of Dante's fallen brother, Vergil, which Agnus had kept in a containment field in his lab. Nero forces Agnus to reveal his Angelo form and retreat.

Nero heads towards The Order's headquarters, believing Credo knows more about what is going on. He crosses a bridge which leads into a cave concealed by the Foris Falls and finds himself in the Mitis Forest. Here, Dante bumps into him, but their encounter is very brief. Dante apologizes snidely to Nero, stating that "it'll have to wait", and then jumps off a cliff. Nero fights countless demons on his way through the forest and eventually banishes Echidna the She-Viper, a dragon-like demon who treats the demons of the forest as her children. After that, Nero reaches the Headquarters without any other surprises.

At the entrance he is met by Credo, whereupon Nero asks who Dante is. Credo draws his blade and exclaims that Nero does not have the authority to demand answers from him.

Nero reflexively uses his Devil Bringer to block an attack from Credo, exposing his secret. Realizing that Agnus, who brought news of Nero's demonic power to the Orders' commanders only moments earlier, was right, Credo transforms into his Angelo form and declares that Nero is under arrest. A fight ensues, after which Credo returns to his human form and Nero emerges victorious, but Kyrie, appearing seemingly from nowhere, screams out when she beholds what she interprets as Nero, with a demon arm, trying to kill Credo.

Nero tries to explain and calm Kyrie, but Agnus swoops in and captures her, revealing Sanctus's desire to use her to get to Nero. Credo is furious as Agnus flies away with Kyrie, so he asks Nero to put aside this fight and vows to get to the truth from Sanctus. While Credo flies off to see Sanctus, Nero pursues Agnus and Kyrie.

Nero finds and fights Agnus in the Order's headquarters and succeeds in defeating him. Just as Nero is about to finish off Agnus, an army of Bianco Angelos, lead by none other than Sanctus himself, in the armor of an Alto Angelo swoops in to his aid.

As Sanctus leaves with Kyrie, Nero jumps after her, but he is only able to grab her necklace, which he gave her as a gift back at the cathedral. Nero turns around and continues to pursue Agnus, Sanctus, and Kyrie, however, he runs into Dante on his way out. Nero tries to ignore Dante, but Dante reveals that he wants Yamato back because it used to belong to his brother, Vergil.

Nero refuses, causing another fight between them. Although Nero is wielding Yamato, Dante was able to beat him easily, though dante also says that now he is calm and cool so he can go now meaning dante was not only fighting him but was also guiding him at the same time. Although Dante did wants his brother's sword back, he allows Nero to keep it for now, seeing how he needs it and that he is calm headed. Dante asks Nero's name and so he reveals it to Dante, also commenting that each other's names were "not bad," showing their mutual respect.

Nero later finds Sanctus next to a giant statue resembling Sparda, which is the Savior. Sanctus asks Nero if he wishes to surrender himself and form the Savior's core together with Kyrie to which Nero refuses and attempts to rescue her, but fails and falls into Sanctus's trap. In the process, Sanctus takes the Yamato from Nero. Suddenly, Credo appears, enraged because Sanctus had used Kyrie, and attacks his former superior. Sanctus runs him through with Yamato, causing a mortal wound, and Credo falls off the Savior but is caught by Dante. He, together with Trish, witness as Nero is absorbed into the heart of the Savior. The Savior awakens and flies toward Fortuna. Credo asks Dante to honor one last request, to save both Kyrie and Nero, after which he dies.

Much later, Dante, having retrieved Yamato and destroyed all the Hell Gates, faces off against the Savior. After weakening the Savior's exterior, Dante thrusts Yamato into the core of the statue, awakening Nero and allowing him to escape the heart-like organ imprisoning him. After completing a number of trials within the Savior, Nero finally confronts Sanctus. Sanctus, having achieved even greater levels of power with the Sparda, asks why Nero betrayed the Order. Nero answers that Sanctus has done enough foul deeds to make Nero hate him. During their exchanges, Sanctus also scoffs at Nero for being held back by love.

Nero finally defeats Sanctus inside the Savior. In a final bid for victory, Sanctus implores Sparda for power, but his request remains unfulfilled. In a fit of rage, he asks why Sparda refuses to give him the power to kill Nero.

The sword remains silent, but Nero explains to Sanctus that although Sparda was a demon, he did have a heart, one that could love another person. Lacking this, the sword will not grant his request for power. Nero saves Kyrie and kills Sanctus, and they escape the Savior.

Although it seems that all is finally over, the Savior suddenly transforms into the form of the False Savior, taking on Sanctus' appearance. Nero asks to fight in Dante's stead, and Dante acquiesces. Nero offers a quick prayer to God, during which he explains how he's come to terms with his demonic power, and destroys the False Savior and Sanctus once and for all by using it.

Nero meets up with Dante, with whom he exchanges thanks and friendship. With Dante about to leave, Nero tries to return Yamato back to him, but he refuses to take it saying it's now entrusted to Nero. In their final moments together, Nero asks Dante if they'll meet again, but Dante just vaguely waves in answer.

Kyrie joins Nero as they both agree it's all over, and, although the city is in shambles, they express no regret. Instead they admit their desire to be together. Despite Nero's demon power, Kyrie shows total acceptance of him. Nero returns the necklace to her and they nearly kiss, but they are interrupted by some remaining Scarecrows. Nero fights them off while Kyrie waits and also agrees to kiss him later in the final scene.

After defeating the demon, Nero and Kyrie are seen holding hands while looking on at a distance.

Devil May Cry 5
Nero appears as a playable character in Devil May Cry 5. Nero, along with new allies, fight off a widespread demon invasion of a major city. He also searches for a mysterious cloaked figure who took the Devil Bringer. After losing his Devil Bringer, his arm is replaced by a cybernetic one to assist him in combat.

Powers & Abilities
He showed several remarkable feats of immense power and amazing combat prowess, including defeating several powerful demons ( Berial ,  Bael, and  Echidna ), countless demons on his way through the  Mitis Forest , Credo who had gained a large increase in power from the Ascension Ceremony, killing Sanctus while he was in his final  ascended  form  and  powered by both  The Savior  and the  Sword of Sparda 's immense energies, and striking the false saviour with his devil bringer. In addition, Sanctus remarked that Nero had inherited Sparda's power.

Superhuman Strength: He has inhuman levels of physical strength thanks to the blood of Sparda and his Devil Bringer. Nero is able to easily block Berial's huge flaming sword, using only his left hand and Red Queen, and he even forced Berial's sword back with a strong thrust. He was also able to kick and punch several Scarecrows several feet without using the Devil Bringer. He killed Bael with a punch from the Devil Bringer and can stop Echidna mid-flight by grabbing her tail.

Superhuman Speed: He is also remarkably fast. He ran on Echidna's back faster than the affects of gravity. His reaction rate is also superhuman.

Accelerated Healing: He has also shown regenerative abilities, though they depend on how much stamina he has. Upon being connected to Yamato, this power was greatly enhanced, as he instantly healed from near death and massive injuries.

Demonic Energy Channeling: Nero has shown the ability to channel his demonic energy his gun to the air itself shown in his  Charged Shot  and  Air Hike  abilities. However, Nero transfer the energy from the Devil Bringer into Blue Rose.

Devil Bringer: He had a demonic arm which was extremely powerful. With it he could use a spectral arm that could pull enemies to himself, pull himself to enemies, hold them, or slam them along with various other abilities. The size of the arm depended on how much energy and concentration Nero puts into it. Devil Breaker: After the loss of his Devil Bringer, Nero began to use cybernetic prosthetic that replaced his previous arm and allowed him to perform some of his previous actions. They also enriched his assortment with new moves and techniques.
 * Absorption: The arm has the ability to absorb objects into itself, either for storage or to enhance its powers and abilities. These objects can be summoned forth at will.

Expert Combatant: Nero's swordmanship and combat abilities are great enough that the Order sometimes assigns him missions to carry out on his own. Engineering Skills: Nero modified Red Queen himself to bypass the limiter placed on the revving feature as well as to spray a flammable accelerant on the blade. He also built designed and built Blue Rose himself. In addition, to his great skills in combat, something that has earned him certain respect among his peers, Nero possesses the enhanced physical abilities of a demon. This combined with his already admirable combat skills makes Nero a very formidable adversary. Even before gaining Devil Trigger, even without using his weapons and the Devil Bringer, he can still skillfully fight enemies having easily defeated a large group of Scarecrows using only hand-to-hand combat and a blade he'd taken from one of the demons, and one of his gameplay moves makes him perform a dropkick if he's running fast enough.
 * Swordmanship: Nero particularly proficient with a sword, it being his main form of combat. He is skilled enough to take on a demonically enhanced Credo, who held the highest rank in the Order of the Sword.
 * Unarmed Combat: While hasn't been shown to be particularly adept in unarmed combat, he can take on several Scarecrows with only one arm using punches and kicks while evading and even catching a Scarecrow's leg midswing.

Devil Trigger


After the events in the underground laboratory, Nero acquires Yamato and the ability to use Devil Trigger with it. His Devil Trigger is quite unusual in that it doesn't transform Nero himself: instead, a blue, spectral demon avatar manifests behind him, wielding the Yamato.

This demon has a noticeable resemblance to the Vergil's Devil Trigger, mainly because of the "sheath" on its left arm, used for storing Yamato when it is not in use. Nero himself only acquires a blue aura, burning red eyes, and a deeper, echoing voice. The specter usually mimics Nero's movements, doing right-handed versions of Nero's attacks.

After acquiring Devil Trigger Nero gains the ability to fire Summoned Swords, similar to Vergil. He also gains the demonic ability of being able to instantly heal from wounds that would be fatal to normal humans, for example when he was repeatedly impaled in Mission 6 and later healed from the fatal injuries leaving no signs of injury left.

Weapons
Nero's primary weapons are his customized Durandal; the Red Queen and his customized revolver; the Blue Rose. He also extensively uses his demonic right arm, the Devil Bringer in battle which gives him an increase in strength as well as the ability to use mid to long-range attacks through his Buster. Although he wields the Red Queen and Blue Rose with his left hand, Nero uses the Yamato with his right, leading to the assumption that he is ambidextrous.

Nero appears to have a unique connection to the Yamato, as he was the only one capable of repairing the sword completely, which Agnus was unable to do. The sword is also the only item known to be able to damage Devil Bringer; after being stabbed into his right arm, it seemingly drains Devil Bringer of its power and severely weakens Nero himself. Nero also appears to possess some innate skill with the blade, as he is able to use it expertly from the moment he obtains it.

Deadly Fortune
(Note: The Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune novel depicts the events that happen before, during, and after the events of Devil May Cry 4 with some changes.)

Nero, hinted to be the son of Vergil, was born and shortly thereafter left on the doorstep of an orphanage, getting the name Nero from the black blanket he was found wrapped in. He would later meet Kyrie and Credo along with their family and together, the three of them grew up in the city of Fortuna. Throughout his childhood, he would be teased by many of the children in Fortuna, who accused him of being a bastard child of a prostitute due to the fact that no one knew who his mother was. He would also grow close to Kyrie and Credo's parents. Throughout his life, he would be taught in swordsmanship by Credo and grew closer to his sister, Kyrie. However, both their parents would soon be killed by demons. Unknown to Nero, they were humans who failed in maintaining their sanity in the Ascension Ceremony. This event would lead him to not believe in God. Eventually, Nero would go on to join the Order of the Sword in spite of his conflicting beliefs due to the fact he idolized Credo and his sense of justice and also for the sake of playing a part in protecting Fortuna, a city that Kyrie held dear.

However, he would gain the dislike of the members of the Order of the Sword due to his lone wolf nature, apparently terrible skills in teamwork, and utilizing guns within the other, which is in contrast to the Order's belief that battles should be fought with only a sword much like how Sparda did when he was alive. However, Nero cared little for their beliefs.

One day, he had rescued Kyrie, who was attacked by demons while walking with orphans in Mitis Forest. During the rescue, his arm was injured. Later on, it would change into what would be known as the Devil Bringer. Nero surmises the reason for this was that he reached a point in life where his arm would be what it is supposed to be due to his apparent demonic nature, much like how that of a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

During DMC4
While the events of Devil May Cry 4 took place, there are some differences within the novel from the game:

As he was being stabbed by Agnus and was dying, he thought of a dream he had been having recently. He met a man he had never met before, in which he described as having a "cold" glare but with a touch of "gentleness" (or kindness). The man asked "Can you hear it? The cry of a soul" and also asked him what his soul was "saying". However, Nero pushes the question back and asks him the same question, in which he replies with a smile "Power...I want more power." Hearing that, he replied "I'll take that too" and awakens his Devil Trigger, which is the representation of his soul, then reconnected Yamato.

Devil May Cry 4 Refrain
In the iPhone version of the game, Nero becomes a boss character for Dante.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Nero is mentioned in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After Dante is defeated by Deadpool, Deadpool says "Next time, maybe you should let Nero do your fightin', skippy."

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Nero appears as an unlockable icon in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. To unlock players must reach Rank 24 and 25 with Dante.

Trivia

 * In the final battle against Sanctus, if you finish him off with the Devil Bringer, Nero will shout "Checkmate!" While in Devil Trigger, he yells "Jackpot!"
 * The word "Nero" is Italian for "Black", but Nero's name is also a reference to the Emperor Nero of Rome. It was widely believed, even at his time, that he was the one who started the Great Fire of Rome, although some historians say otherwise. To deflect the blame, he targeted Christians, ordering some to be thrown to dogs, while others were crucified and burned.
 * Nero was actually born with the Devil Bringer on his right arm . Apparently, his arm changed as a result of his arm being possessed by an evil force.
 * While the 3142 Graphics Arts Artbook has confirmed Nero's placement with his relation to Sparda and his family, various other sources released later such as the Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia seem to still refer to Nero's placement as unknown. Reasons for this are unknown.